Devil's and Angel's
by queenofhearts56778
Summary: If you are marked, you are cursed. There is no removing it. There is no escaping it. No love, no family, no life. Those are the rules. But the most important rule of all, no soulfinders, is about to be torn apart. After all rules are made to be broken. Rewrite of the original story
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **This is a rewrite of Devil's and Angels. Some new characters will join the old ones and it is the same general situation. It might have a different ending, it might not. Either way, it will have more twists and more scenes of Aria and Luke! Anyway, without further ado, here it is, the newly updated Devil's and Angels**

Once upon a time, in a land far far away, there was a boy and a girl. They fell in love and despite the fact that they tended to argue over everything and anything, they were the perfect couple. And they both died.

Just kidding.

I hope.

But I'm sure you didn't expect that. After all it sounds like fairytale right? Or at the very least some romance novel written for preteens who pour over it and think "Oh my gosh that's going to be me in high school!" The ponytail wearing, blonde haired blue eyed girl falls in love with the dark haired bad boy who is somehow emotionally damaged and learns to trust again. They go on to have beautiful children who live beautiful lives and they die when they're old and grey and holding each other. It's a perfect romantic movie complete with the cheesy soundtrack and the perfect characters who fall deeply and perfectly in love.

Yeah. I wish.

Sounds way better than my current reality. But that's the reason fantasy exists, to give us an escape from our real lives. How sad is that?

Anyway, I'm getting distracted. That's not the reason that I'm telling you this. No, the reason I'm telling you this is because as of right now, I am sitting on the edge of my bed, it's 2 in the morning and I am staring at a gun. It's cold, so very cold and yet I can't sleep. Not going to lie to you guys, it looks pretty bleak at this point. I don't know what to do. God, I wish I knew what to do.

Now, how did I get to this point you might ask? Well in order to tell my story we have to tell a very different story. I promise it will all tie together. Eventually. Now buckle up boys and girls. Get ready for the tale of the mark!

…..

Did you ever play domino's as a little kid? I did. I loved creating the patterns, setting each one up perfectly. I used to cry when I had to knock them down. Everyone here knows how domino's work right? You knock one down and the whole lot tumble down. My mom used to tell me that lies were like domino's. One little step too far and bang, everything came tumbling down. And that's where our story begins. With a small event. Well small by savant scale. The very first domino.

A savant guy blows up a mall. A 16 year old boy, who has no idea how important he is, was arrested for blowing up a mall. And when I say blowing it up, I mean Boom. No more American Eagle. No more Sephora. The very odd thing was that no explosives were found. Zilch, nothing to start the fire except one boy who had very curiously survived. Plus there's security footage of him bursting into flames, he was seriously having a bad day. I always count it as a good day when I don't catch my hair on fire.

And during a search, something weird came up. A tattoo against his shoulder. Now at that point in time, no one really cared. This boy made poor tattoo choices Oh my god so scary. Let's just throw him in jail and forget all about it and eat some donuts said some cop at the scene if the crime, probably. Now if you can't tell, I made the last part up. Not the guy blowing up the mall, no that's real but the cop part. Truth is I don't know what they said, though I imagine it was something along those lines. Well maybe not the donuts but my point is that it wasn't just a tattoo.

No it turns out the tattoo was a little more concerning. Because it popped up again. This time on a ten year old boy who actually did something good. He stopped a mass murderer from killing his little sister. By essentially exploding his brain. Kind of creepy when you think about it. Unfortunately for him, the Net didn't feel like being very nice to people who stop serial killers with their mind. Go figure.

Turns out, he had the same mark. It almost looked burned against his skin, pitch black. 3 circles, each with 4 little circles on the line. Now I don't know any ten year olds that have tattoos, correct me if I'm wrong. So naturally they brought the ten year old and the now 20 year old guy who blew up the mall into a secret lab to apply "advanced interrogation techniques" to find out how they did these things. See I just call it torture but everyone's entitled to there own opinion. Actually no they're not. It was torture.

Anyway, if you're still with me, the scientists from the Net that were in charge of the little project announced their findings. In short without any fancy scientific language, the mark made them superheroes. Even among the savants. Enhanced speed, strength, stamina and their gift was enhanced. If savants were an extra gear shift in a normal car, the marked were a fricking Ferrari.

Sounds pretty good right?

Unfortunately people only like superheroes when there's a) a giant alien army attacking and b) when they have Chris Hemsworth's abs. And savants started to pipe up with complaints, "It's not fair that I'm not special." "It's an abomination." "It's unnatural. " "They must be the Devil's children."

Human beings are just odd that way, they can't control something, therefore it is the devil. And so began the mass panic. People with the mark were beaten, murdered and tore apart. They started to defend themselves. They thought they were saving themselves, but they were signing their own death certificates. The Net made a special announcement while people with the mark held their breath. Waiting for the news that they would be saved, they would be helped. Instead, they were condemned. The mark was considered the mark of the devil and anyone afflicted with it, is no longer fit to be considered human. Basically, if you had the mark, you were as good as dead. You were allowed to be shot on spot or dragged off to a facility for testing. You simply weren't considered a human being anymore. Thousands were killed. Some tried to run but we're turned in. Brothers betrayed sisters, father's betrayed sons. Husband and wife turned on each other. The first domino had fallen. Nothing would ever be the same.

The mark manifests when a child is 10 years old. They show signs of abnormality before that, special gifts and such. You can't get rid of the mark. Cutting, burning, tattooing over top, none of these work. The mark heals itself. Believe me, I've tried. The mark affects you whether you're a serial killer or Mother Teresa. You could be the most angelic child in the world but you're still going to be shot. Most leave their homes when they receive the mark. Leg it out of there and hope they make it far enough. They never do. You run and you're dead. You stay and you're dead. They will find you no matter what. They will relentlessly hunt you until you are too tired to get to your feet but still you crawl and then there's the sound of a trigger and it's all over.

If you're lucky.

If you're not, you are dragged off to a research facility, tortured until you waste away and finally your body will give out. Personally I choose the first option. A bullet in the head always sounded better to me.

Quicker.

Of course I have no choice in the matter. And so that's the story. The story of a mark that has torn families apart, ruined lives.

Now we get into my story. I can't promise that it's not as gruesome. I can't promise a happy ending. But it would be so awesome if it was right?

But there's only one end for my kind. Let's start from the very first time that I ever proved myself to be a, well let's just say not a normal savant.

…..

November 23rd 2005

Picture this. A cemetery at night. The tombstones cast shadows over the wet grass. The clouds shift, momentarily exposing the moon before blanketing the world. A little girl stumbles through the cemetery, eyes red from crying. She clutches a ratty old teddy bear in one hand, it's button eyes reflecting the shifting clouds. She shivers from the cold, panic deep in her eyes. She's lost, obviously.

But she's not as alone as she thinks she is. "Are you lost my dear?" An elderly woman leans against her cane, smiling down at the young girl.

She remains silent, eyes darting up to glance at the woman's grey hair. "Mommy says not to talk to strangers." She murmurs finally, clutching her teddy to her chest.

"Well your mother is a very smart women. But I'm just here to help you find your brothers."

The women extends a shaky wrinkled hand. The girl hesitates before setting her young small hand into the women's. She's cold. The women is freezing cold against the warm skin of the little girl.

"There now dear. Let's find your brothers. I'm Nana Wilder." The girl walks alongside the older women.

"I'm Aria." She says softly, "and this is mister wiggles." She holds up the ratty teddy and

Nana smiles. "Well it's very nice to meet you both. Tell me Aria, how old are you?" Aria frowns in concentration, counting out 4 of her small fingers. "I'm four." She announces, pleased by her own ability. The woman nods, looking at her with sadness. Aria skips on, completely unaware of Nana's troubled gaze. She's just happy to have found a friend.

Her big brothers ran away too fast for her to keep up. They were always mean to her, calling her a baby. She wasn't a baby anymore, she could count to 20, sometimes, and she could run faster then them. But she had tripped and lost them in the woods.

Nana stops suddenly and Aria falls back, Mr wiggles dangling from her free hand. "Nana?"

"Hush little one."

Aria stomps her foot. She hates that nickname. "I'm not little or a baby." She glares at the much older woman who stares back at her sadly.

"You won't be for much longer. You have a hard path to walk. I'm so sorry." Nana's eyes fill with tears as she stares at the young girl.

"Aria?" Her brother's voice echoes through the woods. "Trace!" He breaks into the clearing, clearly out of breath. "Aria!" He scolds. "Why would you run away like that?" Trace seizes her hand, his 14 year old frame much larger than her 5 year old one.

"It's ok, I found Nana." Aria informs her brother quite calmly. He let's out an exasperated sigh. "Did you make another invisible friend? You know you really should be outgrowing that stage soon." He shakes his head.

"It's late. Let's go home, Victor I've got her!" He calls into the trees. He pulls Aria away, her skipping to keep up with his longer legs. All thoughts of her friend have been chased away by the prospect of going home.

It's a shame that she didn't look a little harder though because she would have seen a tombstone behind her, the statue of the angel almost looming over her. If she looked a little closer, she might even have wiped off the dust and seen the inscription.

"Here lies Anna "Nana" Wilder. 1912-1992. There are far better things ahead than any we leave behind." However on that cold night the little girl didn't learn the truth. That night would come later.

But for now it didn't matter, the mark had claimed it's next victim.


	2. Chapter 2

I didn't know until I was ten. Sure, I thought it was weird that no one ever saw my friends, no one ever heard the voices that I heard. Especially this one voice. I didn't know who he was but I always heard him. We were friends, because I never thought it was weird to hear someone in my head.

But I was 6. I didn't really care. I just wanted to play with my big brothers and dress up my Barbie's to look like sleeping beauty.

My parents had watched me closely for any signs of a gift emerging but had quickly given up.

From all outward appearances, I was practically human with a few other issues. And I remained that way for a few years. Of course, there was a slight problem when I was 9 but it didn't really matter.

…..

I was ten. Probably about 2 weeks after my birthday.

My birthday had been a quiet and awkward affair. No one quite knew how to treat me after the accident. Even Will wouldn't meet my eyes and he was always my supporter.

My mom bust into tears halfway through cutting the cake. I went to my room after that and hid. I couldn't take all the flinching, the pitying glances and the whispers.

It hurt too much.

But I didn't know what I had coming later.

Almost no one was in the house as there was some big event at the Net. I can't remember what it was, probably some benefit for rich people top to pass along money to other rich people to keep other people safe.

Apparently, since I was now ten, I was old enough to stay on my own for a night.

At the time, I was miserable. I knew that the only reason I wasn't going was because of what happened.

The frustration and anger caused me to lash out at my mother.

It's hard to remember what I actually said but I know that my dad had barked at me to go to my room and my mother's bottom lip had started to tremble.

I ran up the stairs and flopped on my bed.

And that was where I was when the pain started.

It began as a slight hot feeling against my shoulder. Which very quickly grew into burning. I couldn't help it, I screamed.

 _What's wrong_ The voice flickered into my head. My friend was back. The pain was agonizing, worse than the time that Xav had convinced me that it was a good idea to use hot candle wax as a band aid.

I _t hurts_ I whimpered, and he responded quickly.

 _Run it under water. It'll help_

Thank god that no one was home.

I probably would have died on the spot.

I ran to the bathroom and stuck my shoulder under the ice cold stream of water. That eased the pain a little and I stayed there until the pain had eased. I removed my arm from the shower and pulled back the sleeve of my now soaked pajama top.

You can guess what was burned onto my arm. It wasn't exactly a happy surprise. I had no clue what it was at first but it didn't take very long for me to figure it out.

My father was never very creative with his passwords.

Looking up the mark was easy. Accepting what I had now become was harder. I left the bathroom and returned to my room. I don't really remember what happened the rest of the night.

I think there was a lot of screaming and crying. Possibly some damage of property. It was lucky that no one was home. I do remember at around 3 in the morning, lying on my bed. I had broken a lot of my dolls and my bedside table. I had gone through the seven stages of something.

Denial, which trust me, is hard to do when you have the cold evidence on your shoulder, Anger, hence the property damage and eventually I must of accepted it.

I have no idea how I got here but I do believe that the exact thought I had was "If I'm going to give up my life for this. I better be able to do something damn cool."

Laugher filled my head, but it wasn't mine. It definitely wasn't mine.

 _Thank you_ I whispered through the bond that I could feel forming. I didn't question why I could hear him again. I didn't realize that it meant the return of every other voice. I was too tired to think about it that much.

 _You're welcome_ the voice responded. _What's your name?_

 _Aria , yours ?_

A slight pause and then. _Luke_

I cracked open one eye, hesitating as I wasn't fully sure if I wanted to know the answer

 _Luke?_

 _Yes_ the reply came almost instantly

 _Are you like me? Are you marked?_

 _You can't tell anyone about me, about this_

I sat straight up, ignoring the pain in my shoulder

 _Are you marked?_

The reply was little more than a whisper, almost as if we said it out loud, they could hear us and hunt us down.

 _Yes_

….

Damn cool. Not exactly.

1 year later and still no power. And the voices were back. All of them.

Not just the kind ones. I had made the mistake of complaining to my parents about my medication no longer working and had been dragged into about fifty different consultations. Doctor after Doctor prescribed new meds, new combinations and every other thing in between. Eventually, I gave up.

I told my parents that the voices were gone and slowly the doctors visits ended. My parents were thrilled. They didn't have to deal with the problem child anymore.

This was when the divide between us really began. I had never been close to my mother or my father. Since it was her 8th child, there were some huge complications at my birth.

My mom was unconscious for weeks after.

When she finally woke up and came home. It was as if she didn't care about her daughter anymore.

She kind of gave up. I wasn't the priority, I never was. She was depressed and I was the only one that knew it. Dad put her on a pedestal and my brothers only saw the happy mother. But I got good at watching people and even now I can tell, she doesn't know how to act around me.

I had always been different but with the mark, I took that to a new level.

While my brothers became extraordinary, I became ordinary. They stood out, I hid in behind them. I told myself that it was because of the mark. If I stood out, I could die. Hiding was the best way to start safe.

But deep down, I think that I always knew that it was never just because of the mark. The truth is, there was always a divide in my family.

And when it came down to it, that divide was deeper then anyone of us could have ever imagined.

…..

My real scare came when I was 12 and an officer came for dinner. I'd known him for years even called him "Uncle Ben." Dinner was fine but I had forgotten my math book in the hall.

I slowly creeped down the stairs, trying to be quiet.

I slid into the hall, grabbing my math book and made to go back upstairs. But then I heard my name.

"Quite interesting that Aria has no powers. Especially in such a talented family. Don't you think?" "Yes." Came my father's perfectly controlled voice "but I really do not see how it matters to you. She isn't one of your marked girls. She doesn't even have powers as you said. She's practically a human"

I swear to god my heart stopped beating for a minute. They were talking about my mark. Almost unconsciously I moved closer to the doorway pushing against the wall.

"We found another one yesterday. He has been hiding but his father caught him in shorts. Called us and well."

He mimed a gunshot and my stomach lurched. This man who I had used to call an uncle, had shot someone.

Someone was dead purely because the had this mark. The man who used to give me dolls.

Did this mean I was truly evil? I didn't feel like the Devil but how are you supposed to feel? "I would prefer you not to talk about that in my house. None of us carry the mark and my children have no need to be scared tonight. Besides you checked every single one of them yourself."

I blinked, and my heart rate increased. He had come over about a week after the mark had burned itself onto me.

We went swimming and he stared at me for so long that I felt self conscious and turned away. I didn't realize they were checking for that mark. But for some reason that day I needed something stronger to hide it.

So I cut myself over the mark. I completely mutilated my skin, enough that the mark was unrecognizable. That night I woke up with the same burning on my arm and there it was. As black and ugly as before, not changed

"I know I did. Well I better be off, we have a possible kid up in Denver." I heard mutters of goodbyes and handshakes after that but I was already upstairs.

Benefits of the mark, you move fast.

I didn't sleep that night. I was debating running. I was considering staying.

But in the end I had no choice but to stay. If I ran now than they would track me down, they would predict I had heard the conversation and my name would be on the register for possible marked.

I couldn't run but right now staying had seemed impossible.

 _Look, a fire. Can't you see it burn? See the flames lick against the blood red sky? Who knew schools burned that fast? She sure didn't. The ten year old girl stands, her thin frame outlined against the smoke._

 _It's your fault, all your fault, a voice hisses in her ear. The same voice that screamed at her to light the match. Not that she needed a match; no she's much stronger than that. The mark burned on her shoulder proves that._

 _All she can do is watch helplessly as the school is consumed in fire. The screams of the dying are deafening but the screams of the dead echo in her ears, much louder than any noise a living human could make._

" _I've got her." A rough hand grabs her arm, dragging her to the ground._

" _Another marked?" The silhouette of a man, surrounded by fire, comes into view._

" _This one's young. I bet it was her who blew this place up."_

 _He turns his menacing face to the girl's, "Was it you little girly? Did you play with that little mark on your shoulder?" She kicks him._

" _Screw you." He snaps, shoving his hand into his jacket. He pulls a silver gun out of his pocket and sets the cold metal barrel against her forehead. She makes to lunge at him but she is too young, too small._

" _Be careful sweetheart. One wrong move and they'll torture you until you beg me to put this bullet in your head." She freezes, all too aware of the powers of the gun._

" _Look at all this." He gestures to the burning building, the dead bodies. "You did this. You killed them." She doesn't reply. Her eyes are too busy, focused on the limp body of her brother. Her brother, who she sent sailing into the wall. Her brother, who is now dead. And she's soon to join him. As if reading her thoughts, the bullet clicks into the chamber._

" _Take a good look. This will be the last thing you ever see." The gun firing is the last thing she hears._

….

I bolt upright gasping. Not another one. I drag the sweaty sheets away from my legs and set my feet on the floor.

The walls of my room are blue, not red. There is no smoke. There is no gun. I exhale deeply. I glance at my clock. 8:00. Damn, I slept in. I stand up and walk towards my mirror. I look tired and pale, like my skin lost its tan glow overnight.

Staring at myself in the mirror, I take inventory. Tan skin, check, Brown eyes that are way too big for my face, check. Freaky shortness compared to my family check. People say I look like my mother which I do but I still hear whispers.

Whispers that my mother had an affair, or that I'm adopted. It's all because of my stupid hair.

My brothers all have varying degrees of brown hair but I have blonde hair. Light blonde hair.

Mom claims I got it from a distant relative, a recessive gene. But people still talk. People always talk

Dark circles only emphasize how large my eyes are, making me look not only terrified but like some weird bug.

Just what a girl wants to look like.

The worst side effects from the dreams are the burning on my shoulder. No matter how much concealer I put on the night before; it disappears overnight, leaving the black lines clearly visible.

Seriously, I spend so much money on concealer and that shit is not cheap. I start applying it, slowly going through the motions of the routine that I have perfected since I was 10 years old.

It took like 50 make up tutorials and around 15 different shades of foundation but I made it work. I had to make it work. I didn't exactly have another choice.

I ran downstairs, and paused just outside the kitchen. My mother was bustling around the kitchen as my brothers ate.

"C'mon, now, hurry up. You'll be late!" She passed Zed a textbook and handed Yves a lunch bag.

"Let's go" Zed snapped, already pacing in front of the door.

"Why are you so eager?" Xav asked, raising his cereal spoon. Crystal laughed from where she was leaning against him. All of my brothers and their soulfinders were in town for a family visit. The house was even more crowded than usual.

My house was so busy, even without Uriel, Trace, Victor and Will staying with us. Xav was the only one who hadn't gotten another place to stay. I slid around the corner and headed into the kitchen.

I grabbed a granola bar and l slid around the corner of the shelf. I didn't really need to be that careful. I was pretty much invisible.

"Out, Out you all go" My mother ushered us out, my father close behind her. Hand on her waist, he smiled at her and I looked away.

I didn't want to see that. I was never going to have that so what's the point in watching other people enjoy it?


	3. Chapter 3

Is this seriously necessary? I'm being shoved against the backseat of the car, struggling to reach the door handle as Zed and Sky attempt to show just how hard one period of separation was for them.

They have all their classes together, except for the last period. So quite clearly, the reunion requires a make out session that basically looks like they are about to remove some additional clothing.

It is not that hard to be apart.

Or at least it shouldn't be, I really question the evolutionary benefit to soulfinders if they can't even handle 75 minutes apart.

I finally snag the door handle and escape the backseat of the car.

Thank god. It was getting a little rough even for me. I have witnessed countless of these make out sessions. It still baffles me that they feel the need to do this.

I grab my bag and stumble up the stairs to my front door. I push open the door, kick off my shoes and walk into the living room.

Seriously?

Yves and Phee are going at on the couch. This place is like sexed up soulfinder central. Even though Zed and Sky aren't married, I don't think it takes a genius to tell that they probably have had a little fun. They don't even surface to say hello as I walk by into the kitchen.

My parents are laughing together in the kitchen but at last least they aren't making out. I've had just about all that I can take of people kissing today.

"Hi Aria" my father greets me before turning back to my mother.

"Have you taken your meds today?" my mother asked.

"Yup" I reach into the drawer right beside them. I grab a granola bar and start to head upstairs. I look back quickly, but they are already engrossed in their conversation and have gone back too completely ignoring me.

That's a typical conversation between my parents and I. "Did you take your meds?"

"Make sure that you take your meds."

That seems to be the most important thing about me. I open the door to my room and shut it loudly, half hoping that someone will think I'm upset and come up.

Of course, no one does.

I set my bag down on the floor and dig through the front pocket. A round, white pill falls out into my hand.

Grabbing the knife that I stole from Will's closet when I was 11, I turn to my dresser and open the top drawer.

Using my knife, I jimmy the back of the dresser open so that the false back pops off. A small bag of pills and a handgun fall out with a loud crash.

"Shit" I curse under my breath and cast a furtive glance at the door. My heart feels like it's pounding in my ears. No noises come from downstairs, no sound of anyone coming upstairs.

I quickly slide the pill into the bag among the other ones and grab the gun. Placing them back into their hiding place, I shove the back of the drawer back into its place. I jump on my bed as quickly as possible, just incase someone was coming up.

Waiting for my heart to calm down, I start to count backwards in my head. 100 pills. 100 pills of Aripiprazole.

The past 50 days, I haven't taken my medication. I hide it in my dresser drawer and once I get to 200 pills, I get rid of them by smashing them and throwing them down the sink.

If I throw them out one at a time, my parents could get suspicious about why I'm smashing things in my room.

But even still, I'm shocked that it's been going on for this long. I mean, theoretically, someone should be checking that the incredibly unstable 17 year old who spent 7 weeks in a mental hospital when she was 9, is still taking her meds.

The truth is, my meds stopped working the second I got the mark. They barely even worked before hand. I've been hearing things for years, things that I shouldn't hear. I don't understand it at all.

I should be able to cancel them out, shouldn't I? Especially if it a savant power, I should be able to shield against them.

My mom can.

Zed can.

Why can't I?

…...

The chatter from downstairs is almost as loud as the pounding voices against my temple. I don't want to go downstairs. I don't want to. They wouldn't miss me anyway.

 _Leave them alone._

 _Run._

 _Kill them, let them then join us. Let them see what you can do._

 _They did this to your people, they destroyed them. Make them pay._

Slamming my fists into the bed, I sit up. One of the straps of my dress digs into my shoulder. I hate it.

It's white.

If there is one color that makes me look drawn and pale, it's white. According to my mom, since Crystal bought it for me, I have to wear it today. But so far, no one had come upstairs and told me to come down.

Which is good because all I can hear are the people talking in my ears. I suppose I have to come down at some point.

I stood up, feeling my ankles crack in the new shoes. I take a quick glance in the mirror. Yep, drawn and pale. Anything white has never looked good on me. I take a quick breath and walk out my door.

Almost instantly, the volume in my ears gets way louder. Stumbling on my feet, I barely make it to the bathroom before my stomach rolls and I throw up. It doesn't ease my head or stomach at all and I remain kneeling on the floor for a minute.

It's particularly bad today. I've had worse days but this is definitely not a good one. Wobbly, I stumble to my feet as elegant as I can in the stupid shoes. I walk onto the stairway carefully, gripping the railing as tightly as possible.

Thankfully, no one really seems to notice me as I enter the room. Trace and Diamond are excitedly talking to my parents about some vacation they want to go on.

My god, she looks very pregnant. Will is playing with their two year old daughter, Grace, in the corner.

Will hasn't found his soulfinder yet as he is very busy training with Victor to be an FBI agent but he is planning a trip to Amsterdam soon. My mom isn't thrilled about sending her son to go overseas alone but she understands that he needs to go.

Uriel and Tarryn are sitting together in the corner, laughing about something. They just moved in together a couple months ago. They live in Denver where Uriel is working as a therapist.

Yves and Phee are still technically living at home as they both attend college in Denver. Yves is studying for his exams right now and is chattering on about some sort of computer science constantly.

Phee is the only one who can bet him to stop talking about it and mainly she just shuts him up by kissing him. I would rather listen to a lesson on how to code for the millionth time then watch the two of them attempt to consummate their marriage with clothes on.

I pull at my hair nervously, trying to get rid of the feeling of nausea that builds up inside me. Sitting down on the couch beside Zed and Sky, I basically fade into the background, trying to ignore the pulsing headache.

"Hi Aria" Crystal sits down beside me on the couch, pushing Zed over. He briefly scowls at her before returning to his conversation with Sky and Victor.

"Hi" I mumer, glancing around the room.

"I wanted to talk to you, did Xav tell you that?" I shake my head absently. Victor doesn't have his soulfinder, that must hurt. He's trying to save up enough money and get support to go to Afghanistan.

It's not going so well considering the fact that he doesn't even know her name or where she is. But he needs support from the Net to let him go free her and so far it's not looking so good. He must be miserable.

Victor laughs at whatever Sky said, his face briefly switching into one of anger and frustration before he sets the smile back in place. Huh, I never thought he was that good of an actor.

 _He can't keep it together, he needs help._

 _He has killed your people, take your revenge._

 _Help him find her._

 _Help him._

 _Kill him._

 _Destroy them_

"Aria?" Crystals voice brings me back to earth as I blink, trying to bring the room back into focus.

"Yeah?" My voice sounds really far away, like I'm stuck under water.

"Did you hear what I said?"

"Oh, Sorry" I shake my head and attempt to focus on Crystals face.

Concern crosses Crystals face, "Are you feeling ok?" I shove a fake smile onto my face,

"I feel fine. I just zoned out for a minute. What were you saying?"

"I wanted to know if you wanted me to find your soulfinder?" The room stops. It just freezes. Every muscle in my body is being frozen. She can't find my soulfinder.

She can't.

Because he doesn't exist. We don't get soulfinders. Another amazing benefit of the life ruining package that is called the mark. We give up our lives to do what?

A slightly more powerful gift, that in my case, has made me partially insane. And in our tragically short lives that always end with pain and death, we don't even get the joy of knowing that there is another person who is meant for us out there in the world.

We live alone and we die alone.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you but Xav thought and….. don't worry about it." Crystal stutters. "Aria?" It's Zed's voice. I try to focus on it but I just can't. All I can hear is the screaming in my head. Nothing in this room in coming into focus.

"Come on Aria." Mom extends her hands. There no sympathy on her face, only vague irritation. I don't extend my hand but she grabs it anyway and pulls me to my feet. I stumble after her as she walks quickly to the stairs.

"I can't believe this." She meets, clearly thinking that I can't hear or understand her.

"I'm just trying to have a nice family party and you have to pull this…" She shakes her head in irritation and opens my bedroom door.

"Stay up here until you can at least act pleasant for your family." She orders before the door slams shut behind me.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi guys! Thank you so much for the reviews and I'm glad that you like the new story. I had a review that mentioned that they thought that the way Karla acted in the last chapter, kind of out of character for her. I'm super glad that you mentioned that because that is actually a main part of the story that I thought I messed up in the original.**

 **The relationship between Aria and the Benedicts, specifically Aria and Karla, was never really explored. She died before any kind of actual discussion could happen. So that was a major part that I wanted to do better in this story.**

 **Here's the answer to your question though. Originally, Aria was supposed to be Victor's Soulfinder and story was meant to be set up around their story.**

 **But as I started more into the story, I had a different idea. The Benedicts have been able to help people out of trouble, think of Sky and Phee and Crystal, but they haven't had the trouble come from within. We know them as a tight family unit who would do anything for eachother but what if those bonds were shattered?**

 **That was when Aria as you know her, fully came into the picture and the story of Victor's soulfinder, though important ( Don't worry, I'll get to it) kind of got pushed into the background of the story.**

 **A key part of the Benedicts relationship is trust. You know why Aria doesn't trust them but an important factor of the story is the lack of trust that Karla has for Aria. Karla will do whatever it takes to protect her family and she views Aria as a threat.**

 **Aria is terrified of Karla because of what she fears would happen if they discovered the mark. Karla is terrified of Aria because of something that Aria did when she was a child( Again, I will get to it). That's the problem with their relationship, there is too much tension and fear between the two of them. Karla's reaction appears uncaring and absolutely horrible because we see it all from Aria's perceptive.**

 **From Karlas point of view, she doesn't see the daughter that she had and the daughter that she wanted. She sees something that she can't control and something that she doesn't know how to handle. They do love each other, quite deeply, but that bond has been slowly disintegrating. I hope that helps a little with your confusion and I am super excited for how that relationship is going to change as the story progresses. Anyway on with the story now that I've talked enough.**

Fuck. Fuck. Shit.

My hand dig into the cool floor as I throw up, again and again. My head is throbbing so much that I can barely move. The voices are screaming so loud that they are almost echoing. They won't shut up tonight.

They just wont.

I don't know how to make them. I lean backwards against the wall and shut my eyes. One last time. I shut my eyes and rest my head in my hands. Internally I try, for the thousandth time this night, to slam walls up. Walls that will shit up the voices. It doesn't work.

"Shut up. Shut up. Shut up." I whisper to myself, banging my head against the porcelain wall. Of course that doesn't help.

It actually kind of makes it slightly hurt more. Lesson learned, headaches don't go away when you bang your head against the wall.

I take a deep breath and push myself to my feet. The room starts to spin faster as I lean against the wall. The pressure in my head is unbelievable.

Maybe a walk will help. Isn't fresh air supposed to help with a migraine?

This isn't a normal migraine but maybe it will help. Somehow, I stumble down the stairs without falling. I step outside the door, and the cool air hits me.

As I walk, every time I put my foot down, the black spots in my vision threaten to grow and overwhelm me. The voices are still screaming. I don't even know where I am or where I'm going.

It feels like I've been walking for hours, trying to tune out the pain in my head and the voice in my ears. I don't want this to happen, I don't want to be crazy.

Why is this happening?

I fall, to my knees and crawl towards the bush on the side. I stay like that. On my knees, on a street, dry heaving as I attempt to make the voice's shut up. Tears are pouring down my face and my throat aches. I didn't realize till later that one of the voice I was hearing was my own.

I was screaming "Shut up." over and over again until I couldn't say anything. Even than, my mouth kept shaping the words. My entire body is shaking so hard that I can't even hold myself up.

And then it stops.

Everything stops.

The voice's have gone quiet. Someone just turned down the volume. I push myself up, slowly, blinking at my surroundings.

I have no idea where I am. I am sitting in the middle of an industrialized complex. Tall, brick, warehouses tower over me, almost blocking out the black sky. There are no streetlights hear so it's incredibly shadowy and dark.

How did I get here? Where am I? Slowly, I stand up, looking around the at the buildings. I take a step backwards and clutch my head in agony.

 _Kill them._

 _Make them pay_

 _Step forward, see what's inside._

 _He's waiting for you_

 _You two can change the world._

 _Take your revenge._

The voice's slam into my head, just as loud as before. I stumble forwards quickly and the voices quiten. I don't understand.

Why…..? I glance back up at the brick warehouse directly in front of me. It looks the same as any of the others.

A light is on in the upper floors unlike the other ones. But aside from that, it is a nondescript plain building. No flowers mark the walkway that leads up to the door. A loose pop can rolls along the dirty ground. I take another step forward, and the voices quiet again. Something is driving me up the stairs. Something or someone is trying to make me go up there. I shiver at the cool breeze and glance over my shoulder.

I feel like someones watching me but I don't know who. I take a couple quick steps forward, suddenly very aware of the fact that I'm only wearing a tank top. T

he mark on my shoulder is in full view. What if it's a Net official up there? But that doesn't make sense. Why would the voices in my head shut up because of a net official? Why would it be driving me towards my death?

I need to know. I need to know what's waiting for me and why it makes it better. Stepping forward quickly, I cross the sorry excuse for a lawn and grab the door.

It squeaks as I open it, and I glance into the stairwell warily. It doesn't look like a home. A dark hallway with a couple doors leading off it and a stairway at the end. I step inside and instantly shiver.

It's freezing.

Way colder than outside.

The door slams behind me with a loud thump and I'm immersed in instant blackness. With no lights on, it's kind of hard to see but a shaft of light is visible from the stairwell. I slowly walk forward, trying to look around so that nothing jumps out at me.

This is so like the horror movies that Will and Xav used to watch. They terrified me but I loved them a lot, despite the nightmares.

I half expect some spectral figure to pop out and yell "boo!" I cast a quick glance over my shoulder and immediately feel stupid.

I'm acting like a three year old who thinks that the Grudge lives behind every slightly shady looking corner.

Slightly shady.

Shit, I'm walking up a dark staircase to a creepy, abandoned, warehouse. This has moved way past shady and into sketchy. And still, even though I can feel an entire audience of movie watchers screaming at the dumb girl not to go in, I keep walking towards the stairs.

The stairs creak under my feet and it echoes in the empty space. The pressure has started to build up behind my ears, like the voices are battering off some invisible shield that I can't see. It's like what Mom and Zed describe when they have to block out the future.

It's a shield that I have never been able to replicate on my own but somehow, I seen to have gotten stuck under someone else's. The only noise in the building is the echoing sound of my footsteps as I climb floor after floor.

At about the fourth floor, I start to hear the slight noise of music and voices. Not voices in my head but actual voices. I climb faster as my head throbs. I'm not used to having the voices locked out and even though it isn't my shield, I can feel the pressure of the voices building up in my head. They slam relentlessly against the shield.

Once I've reached the fifth floor, the sound of music increases increased dramatically and the staircase ends. At the end of the hall, there is a solitary door. Light pours out from under the door and I can hear the low chatter of voices. I walk closer, trying to be as quiet as possible. I'm basically standing with my ear against the door.

" Dude, what's wrong?" A male voice asks.

"I don't know but I just got this killer headache." Another one replies.

" Someone's been out drinking too much." A female voice sings. She sounds further away. "Shut up Kay." snaps one voice.

" Yeah, shut up." The second voice comes in with annoyance.

A sudden shooting pain behind against my skull. It feels like something is trying to use a saw to split my head open.

"Fuck" Whoever's behind the door groans, almost like they feel the pain that I'm feeling. Or at least an imitation of it. The black spots swarm my vision and start to overwhelm me. My feet don't seen seem to be working anymore.

I don't even realize I've hit the ground until I see the hazy ceiling swimming above me. I vaguely hear the door open as if I'm under water and someone brushes brushed my arm. A hazy image slides into view.

It's a boy.

His features are all blurry and mixed up. The only clear things are his dark hair and his bright green eyes. Eyes like springtime. T

hat bright green color is the only thing I see before the current washes over me and I fall even deeper underwater, to a place where there is no light or voices to trouble me.


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm so sorry that this took so long. I hate exams.**

I'm floating under water. The current keeps pushing me down but something is trying to pull me back up. The water is gradually getting lighter and lighter, giving way to the bright green of the trees.

I push myself up, struggling to break through the last upper layer when the current sweeps me down. I struggle a lot harder but the current is much stronger than I am. As it pulls me back to the dark, I realize that my lungs are now burning and I open my mouth to scream but only water floods in and I can't breathe.

I bolt up, gasping for breath.

It's air.

Air.

Not water.

I'm not drowning. It's air that I'm breathing.

" Hey. Hey. You ok?" The new voice sends me scrambling backwards.

I hit the edge of the couch and almost flip over the back. I'm on a couch. An unfamiliar couch. There's a blanket over my legs. Like I've been there for a while.

" Whoa. Calm down." A slightly accented voice remarks. I open my eyes to see a pretty girl sits perched on a windowsill, clutching a cup of tea. She blinks at me, and gestures to a second cup sitting on the table between the two of us. A small blue pill sits right beside the cup.

"It's yours if you want it." She says calmly as if it's completely normal for random strangers to collapse against her door and then wake up on a random couch. I pull my legs against my chest and sit up. The pressure in my head has definitely abated.

"I feel like shit." I groan and rest my head against my knees. My head may not be internally pounding but externally it aches. I suppose that's what happens when you collapse into a door frame.

"Well yes, I suppose you do." I lift my head, trying to ignore the pain that flickers through my head and spine. The girl blinks at me, before taking a sip of her drink.

"It's just water, you know." She remarks calmly.

"We won't try to poison you." She's really pretty. Petite with long hair, that is about the color of dark chocolate. Spanish.

That's the accent.

"Sorry but I'm not exactly planning on driving something a complete stranger gives me. Or taking whatever that is." I set my head back down on my knees exhausted.

She laughs. "It's Advil. Not a sedation drug or anything like that. As for the stranger part." She hops down from the windowsill and cross crosses the room to extend a hand out for me to take.

"I'm Kaylen. My favorite color is purple, I love spider monkeys and my favorite avenger is Iron Man because he's hilarious. You and I are going to be best friends. At some point in time. Can't tell you exactly when, but is going to happen."

I crack open my eyes but don't lift my head. "How do you know that?" I ask, without taking her hand. She doesn't seem discouraged by this in the slightest and quite happily sits down on the coffee table.

"Because of this silly." She giggles and lifts up her hair. Branded on her neck is the exact same mark that is on my shoulder. I jerk my head up, staring at her in panic.

"I have to get out of here." I whisper. Throwing the blanket off of my legs, I stumble to my feet.

Unfortunately, I'd like to say that I made a dramatic exit.

I did not.

Panic did not make my legs more stable and after the rough night, my legs just aren't carrying me anymore. I barely make it three steps before I hit the ground.

"Connor. John. I need help." The girl, Kaylen, yells. The footsteps reverberate through the floor and into my bones.

"God Kay, What the hell did you say to her ?" A hand grabs my arm, trying to pull me to my feet. I pull away, causing my head to crack against the floor.

The pain briefly overwhelmed the panic but it quickly returns when I'm hauled to my feet.

"Come on and it won't hurt so much." The person grumbled, dragging me back to the couch.

"I just told her we were going to be best friends." Kaylen mumbles, following me.

"God Kaylen, we all love and appreciate your slightly scary habit of blurring out the future to random people but now was not the time." I fall back on the couch and glare at the three people who have me surrounded.

I'm trying to look tough but it's not going so well. I'm terrified. These people are like me. The boy, I'm guessing he's who Kaylen was talking to as he had his arm slung around her, is tall. He has longish red hair and pale blue eyes. Combined with his pale skin and freckles, he basically looks like he would burn the second he stepped into the sun.

He at least is smiling. The other boy, essentially his opposite, is dark. Dark skin, dark hair and dark eyes. Also not smiling. He's the one who grabbed me.

He's staring at me, no not staring, appraising. Feeling a little self conscious, I wrap my arms tighter around myself. They must all have the mark. I want to leave.

I don't want to be here at all.

"Hello" the red head speaks up, extending his hand the same way Kaylen did, "I'm Connor. That's John."

He gestures to the dark haired one, who does nothing.

"And you already know Kaylen." Kaylen waves and smiles like I didn't just try to run away from her.

"She doesn't look like much." John speaks for the first time, still staring at me. "Don't be rude." Kaylen orders, shaking her head at John. Connor stifles a laugh and she rounds on him.

"You both can leave if you are going to be jerks to our guest." They both shrug and leave, John hesitating for one second before whispering in Kaylen's ear.

She nods at whatever he says but keeps her eyes trained on me. "Where am I?" I meet Kaylen's eyes.

"Don't you remember?" I shake my head slowly.

"It's really quite interesting because you found us." I grown in confusion as memories filter in. The pain, the absence of pain and then the door at the end of hall and green eyes that looked like springtime.

"I saw you coming" Kaylen announced, looking quite pleased with herself.

"That's why we're here actually. We normally move around much more, but I saw you coming and you would find us here."

This girl is insane. The mark does make you crazy. She's either crazy or…..

"You can see the future." I breathe.

"Yup. The special little talent given to me by the lovely tattoo on my shoulder." She says, quite happily. It's almost like she isn't scared of the mark. She almost seems proud of it.

"You're not crazy." She laughs, and I almost reverse my judgement on the whole not crazy front because she sounds maniacal.

"Everyone who had this mark is supposed to be crazy. I'm crazy. But you're not." She stops laughing abruptly and stares at me. People need to stop doing that. I'm getting worried that there's something on my face.

"Who told you that you were crazy?" I laugh bitterly. Images of doctors offices, straight jackets and my parents terrified expressions spin through my brain.

"About 50 different psychology specialists, my parents and almost all of my friends." Kaylen frowns at that, and calmly crosses the room. She sits beside me on the couch and I carefully shuffle backwards. She didn't look hurt but simply looks at me like someone would look at a scared animal.

"You hear voices right?"

"How do you know that?" She shrugs like it's common knowledge.

"You were talking a little before you fully passed out. I thought that you might be a seer for a little, you know like me. But then you started talking about how the voices told you things and that they wouldn't stop talking. I realized that you weren't a seer. I'm not quite sure what you are. But you're something new."

I stare at her in disbelief. She seems to be under the impression that I'm going to join whatever the hell this is.

This weird cult, I guess, for people with the mark only. One that seems to want to trick us into believing that we aren't crazy.

"I don't know what kind of idea you're getting here but I'm not one of you. We are crazy. This mark, it messes with our brains. It's not natural. I'm not gifted. I have no gift. All I have is this stupid mark on my shoulder that means I'll be dead in a few years and a diagnosis of schizophrenia." I stop, half shaking and push myself to my feet.

"Those voices in my head, they aren't real. They have never been real! It isn't a gift. It isn't. It's a fucking curse. Get that through your head. The mark doesn't make us better. It kills us. It kills people like you who think that they can stop it or make it better. And I'm not letting you drag me down with you." I start walking towards the door and I don't stop.

I wait until I'm fully out the door before I start running. I race down all the stairs as fast as I can and burst out the front door. It's still dark out. Thank the Lord. I can't have been out for that long. And then the realization slams into me like a truck.

I have no idea where I am.

I turn around, trying to catch a glimpse of a street sign, anything to tell me where I am. A blue car pulls forward, out of a driveway that's hidden from sight. It pulls towards me and I duck to the side of the road. The car pulls towards me and stops.

The window rolls down and Kaylen appears. She very calmly pushes the passenger door open.

"You'll get home a hell of a lot faster if I drive you." Considering the fact that I don't know where I am, I'll take the ride over wandering around lost and alone. I walk around the car and hop through the open door. I open the door and Kaylen starts the car.

We don't talk for the ride. I don't even give her get directions but she seems to know where she's going. I guess she's a seer though it kind of creeps me out that she knew things about me before she even met me.

"Stop here." I break the silence, asking her to stop about a block away from my house. She pulls over and stops the car.

Turning the engine off, we sit in awkward silence. I don't know quite what to say. I can't say that it was nice to meet her. It wasn't.

"Look I know you think I'm nuts. You think we all are. But if you ever change your mind, feel welcome to stop by. Here's the address and you know what floor." She hands me a slip of paper.

I glance at it before tucking it in my pocket.

"Here" she have gave me a sweater, "To cover the" she gestures at my shoulder.

"Thank you" I whisper. I make to get out of the car and then pause.

A question had been bothering me since I woke up. "Why did it stop?"

"What stop?" Kaylen looks at me in confusion.

"The voices. It all stopped when I walked in your building." She glances away guilty.

"You know. You know what made the voices stop and you're not going to tell me." She nods her head, still averting her eyes.

"You have to figure this part out for yourself. I can't tell you." I nod and push myself out of the car.

"Bye Kaylen."

She smiles sadly, "Bye Aria." I pause,

"I never told you my name."

"You didn't have to" she grins "Future best friends remember?" I nod and slam the car door shut.


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey?" Nearly jumping out of my skin, I flinch as Zed taps me on the shoulder.

"Can you maybe try not stop my heart?" I demand, pulling the headphones out of my ears. He chuckles, sitting down at the kitchen table beside me.

"So, I have a favor to ask you." I set my pencil down and turn away from my Chemistry homework.

"What do you want this time?" I narrow my eyes at him suspiciously. The last time Zed asked me for a favor, I ended up helping him steal Victor's motorbike and giving him 200 dollars when he broke the stupid thing. Why he decided to jump off that log with a bike that wasn't even his, I have no idea.

"Don't look at me like that. I just need a ride." I glare at him, tapping my pencil.

"Let me guess, because Sky is gone for the night with her parents, you're going to go get drunk and high with your friends and you want me to drive you there and cover for you so Mom and Dad don't get mad." A sheepish expression crosses Zed's face and he ducks his head. He does this almost every time Sky goes away. Even when it's just for a day.

He finds the nearest party, gets blackout drunk and counts on one of us to bail him out. Of course we always do but I'm getting kind of sick of it. "Please?" he begs.

"Fine, but get someone else to pick you up."

"Deal." Zed gives me a quick hug. "You rock Ari!" I roll my eyes but return the hug.

"Go away, I have to finish this homework. We'll leave at 8?" Zed grins before running upstairs, probably to talk Yves into picking him up later on.

….

"I can't believe that you like these stupid things. It's just an excuse to break stuff." Zed rolls his eyes, taking off his seatbelt.

The party is raging by the time we arrive. The sound of pounding music and flashing lights pour out onto the lawn and people are stumbling around the driveway laughing. A ring of them are smoking some substance. I'm assuming not cigarettes based on how many people are either like passed out or giggling hysterically.

"You would understand if you ever had gone to one. They are actually a lot of fun." A girl wearing high heels falls down on the lawn and sits up laughing hysterically. Another girl is crying in the gutter.

"I'll take your word for it." He opens the door and hips out of the car.

"Make good choices!" I call after him as he walks up the driveway.

"Don't be a buzz kill." He calls back before entering the house. The explosion of cheers gets a bit louder when he walks in the house. I sigh, putting the car into drive and starting to pull away. Until someone knocks on my window. "Oh my god!" I roll down the window to see the smiling face of my brothers best friend, Isaac.

"Hey" He says cheerfully. "I guess Zed is inside already?" I nod and get ready to roll up my window.

"Why don't you come in?" I raise my eyebrows at him and he grins even bigger.

"I know you don't normally but C'Mon you'll have fun, I promise."

"I don't really know." I hesitate, looking at the house. It doesn't really look like fun.

"Come on, what's the worst thing that could happen?" He's probably not going to give up. I slide the car back into park and grab the keys.

"That's more like it" Isaac says cheerfully, starting to walk up to the house. I follow him reluctantly and wince at the loud music. I swear, I can actually feel the beat thudding through my chest, making it ache.

Why the hell do people like this stuff? People are pushing me, the lights are too bright and did I mention that people are pushing me?

"Here" Isaac interrupts my thoughts and pushes a cup into my hand. I stare at the drink suspiciously. It reeks like nail polish remover but it's clear like water.

"C'mon, don't think about it." Isaac bumps my hip and downs his own drink. Even though something is screaming at me not to, I raise the cup to my lips and drink. It burns as it goes down and I make a face.

The thing doesn't just smell like nail polish remover, it tastes like it too.

"That's more like it" he laughs and puts his arm around my shoulders. Shrugging out from underneath, I try to look as casual as I can while I take a few steps back.

He's kind of creeping me out. He was always creepy when he came over and I don't understand why Zed is still friends with him.

 _You idiot_

What? Who said that? I look over my shoulder, trying to see if I can meet anyone's eye. But no one is looking at me.

Everyone else is flat out wasted, including my brother who is playing table tennis with a group of his friends. He's so drunk , he doesn't even seen seem to care that a baseball cap, not his, is falling off of his head and somehow he lost the pair of sunglasses that he borrowed from Yves.

He's going to pay for that tomorrow along with his hangover. But he's clearly in no state to do telepathy.

So who did it?

It was a boy for sure, but I don't see anyone else who actually looks sober enough to do any kind of telepathy.

"You're really pretty" Looking up, I see that Isaac had danced closer to me.

"Thanks." I shout, taking another quick step back.

"I've always thought that you were pretty." He shouts again. I think that mostly it's because of the music but the far away look in his eyes proves that it might be the alcohol. I nod and give him a slight push backwards.

He's so spaced that he doesn't even notice.

"Have fun Isaac." I mutter and push past him. "Hey!" he snaps and grabs my arm, faster than I thought Abby drink person could move.

"Where are you going? We were gonna have fun." He slurs, spit landing on my shoulder. I flinch backwards and a thrill of fear goes through me. What if he doesn't let go? Of course, a drunk person is like talking to a toddler so he loses focus quickly.

His grip relaxes and I pull away running into the crowd. I just want a quiet place.

"Excuse me." I chant as I shove through the dancing people. Couples break apart with a annoyed mutter as I barge through the group. I reach the other wall and glance around. There must be… yes!

Right there.

An emergency exit door on the wall. I run towards the door, watching Zed carefully to make sure that he doesn't see me, I step outside. The cool air blows over me and I take a deep breath.

I should just be around the corner from Zed's car. I feel in my pocket for the keys and sigh in relief once I realize that they're still there. I step out into the alleyway between the two houses and my feet crunch on something gross. This place is disgusting.

I set out walking towards the car and something stops me. I look back and there is a huddled figure on the ground.

"Oh my god." I run towards them frantically. It's a girl. She doesn't even move as I fall to my knees in front of her. "Oh my god!" Xav taught me to check for a pulse.

How do you do it? How? I take a deep breath and grab the girl's wrist. I can't feel anything. Oh my god.

Grabbing my cell phone, I dial and good out to my ear. "911, what is your emergency?" A cool female voice answers me.

"There's a girl. She's not breathing. I can't feel a pulse." My voice is shaky and air doesn't seem to be flowing into my lungs as easily as t was before.

"What's your address?" I rattle off the address quickly. She continues to ask questions and I answer until I see her hand flick.

"Wait, she just moved." I interrupt. I reach down to grab her hand to check for a pulse again. Nothing. But I swear I saw it move. " Never mind….." I start before her hand clenches like a vice grip around mine.

Her eyes glare into mine. They're blue but an empty kind of blue. Her face is deranged, her lips pulled back over her teeth. I don't even realize that I'm screaming until I stop. She's crawling forward so she's half lying on me, glaring at me.

"Stop. Please stop." whimpering, I throw the cellphone away. I can hear the operator still taking on the other end but I'm focused on the girl in front of me. A low guttural moan comes from her throat.

 _Help me_

I wince at the echoing voice in my head. The girl scratches at my arm, teeth bared in my face. She pulls her face closer to mine and puts her lips beside my ear.

"Set me free." She hisses and it echoes in my head.

 _Set me free_

 _Set me free_

 _Set me free_

" Go away." I whisper, staring at her face. Blood drips from her lower lip.

"Set me free." She moans.

"Go away!" I scream in her face. Panic is driving me. I can't move, I can't breathe. All I can see is the face of the girl in front of me.

"Set me free."

"Leave me alone!"

"Set me free."

"Move on!" I scream at her and the girl goes limp and collapsed on top of me. I shove her off me and exhale shakily.

Without something moaning in my face, I can hear the sirens. "Here!" I yell and my voice gives out.

I try again, " Here!" and a few paramedics rush around the corner. " She's right here!" I point to the girl beside me. They rush to her.

One lady feels for a pulse and shakes her head. "DOA." The acronym takes a second to click.

"She can't be dead. She was talking to me a second ago!" The lady looks at me with pity. "Sweetheart, rigor mortis has already set in. She's been dead for at least 4 hours."

…

I slam my hand against the door, ignoring the fact that it's two in the morning.

"Hello !" I yell, banging on the apartment door. "Aria?" Kaylen opens the door in confusion. I stare at her, standing in her pajamas, staring at me, the mark on her neck clearly visible.

"I need help." I'm sure she can see the dirt on my clothes, the terror in my eyes. I ran away from the paramedics after they took the body away. It was ruled as an accidental overdose. I spent the next couple hours driving around, trying to find the warehouse.

I found it eventually. "I need help." I repeat desperately hoping that she knows what I mean. "What happened?" She asks, opening the door wider. I walk past her into the warm apartment. The entire room is empty.

No sign of any others.

The couch that I sat on before is tucked in the corner and through another door, I can see a kitchen table. The room is painted a cheerful shade of light blue.

I look back at Kaylen in her bright purple tank top and yellow shorts. She doesn't belong in hiding. She doesn't look like she belongs in hiding.

"Tonight I just got a corpse to wake up, move and talk to me. The girl died of an overdose about 4 hours previously and she talked to me." As much as Kaylen knows, she clearly didn't see this coming.

She stares at me, eyes almost as wide as I'm sure that mine are. "So, what do I do about that?"


	7. Chapter 7

"Kaylen, you need to stop adopting random people off the street. It's quite frankly creepy and slightly irritating." I hesitate in the doorway, watching the two people in the kitchen. Kaylen woke up Connor to talk to after my revelation that apparently I can raise the dead.

"Stop it." she complains. "I woke you up because I thought that you'd be more helpful than John or Leah."

"I think Luke would have been most helpful." The unfamiliar names aside, I'm pretty confused. The hours are ticking by and I need to get home soon.

All Kaylen has told me to do is sit and wait white while she talked to another person in the other room.

"You know I'm trying to keep them apart. It's for their own good right now." Who is she trying to keep apart? Why? I thought they were all friends here, but I guess I haven't met everyone yet.

"I don't know what to tell you Kay. We don't know anything about this girl except that she hears voices, she thinks she's nuts and she can apparently make corpses come back to life. Are we even sure that she's telling the truth?"

"What, you think she's crazy?" I peek around the corner quickly. Connor leans back in his chair and rubs his eyes. He looks exhausted, can't really blame him, it's about 4 am.

"I don't know Kay. Who can say if that wasn't just a hallucination. I know you want to believe that she's different, special because her and Luke.." He trails off into silence. Finish the sentence! Finish the thought. What does he mean "her and Luke?"

Am I who Kaylen is trying to keep away from him? Why?

"Look, I don't know but we can't really afford to have someone who we don't know anything about and quite frankly has not appeared to be the most sane." I've heard enough. I step away from the door and glance around the living room. It's surprisingly cheerful and clean for a group of teenagers.

The window is open, a cool breeze rustling across the room. The image of the corpse leaning over me is forever stained against my eyelids. The voices were one thing but this is another. That girl was dead. Dead and she was moving and talking and… She was breathing. She was right?

Thinking back, I don't see anything. I didn't see her chest rise and fall when she spoke to me. I couldn't feel any breath in my face at all. She wasn't breathing. She was still moving but not breathing.

She wasn't alive anymore. Feeling kind of stupid for not figuring that out, I lean against the wall. So I can't bring the dead back to life, I can just… I don't even know what it is I did. Something was driving her, but I didn't know what. A laptop catches my eye, I open it quickly and open up google.

I type "bringing the dead back to life" into the search bar. Am I seriously doing this? I guess so. I hit the search button and the results scroll onto the screen. Mostly just stuff about brain dead people and studies but a link catches my eye. Necromancer. I click on the article and flick through it. It sounds like something out of a video game.

Lots of "blah blah" nonsense about spells and summoning and crap. But one sentence catches my eye.

A necromancer does not resurrect but rather returns the soul to the body of the deceased and reanimates it. The body does not become alive but becomes according popular lore, a zombie for the necromancer to control. The soul will often beg the necromancer to release them from their body and let them move on to the next life.

Well Shit. That sounds familiar. I shut the laptop, suddenly needing air. I move to leaning out the window, the cool air brushing my face. This doesn't make sense, if I can do this, then what are the voices?

Am I really schizophrenic or are these voices something else? A birds call interrupts my thoughts. There is a raven sitting on the window sill outside. It cocks its head, looking at me. I take a quick step backwards, and it flutters to sit a little closer.

As it tilts it's head, I see the bloody, decaying, wound on it's side. A wound that should have pierced it's heart. "Hey Kaylen?" I call, taking another step backwards. The bird flutters into the room, landing on the couch.

"What is it?" Kaylen wanders into the room, setting her hand on my shoulder. I point at the bird on the couch and she freezes.

"Connor?" She calls quietly and he enters the room.

"What is it?..." He froze as soon as he noticed the bird. "Oh Shit." he whispered looking at the bird. I stare into it's eyes and it slowly hops closer to me.

 _Move on_

The bird tilts its head, staring at me. There's something in its eyes that I don't understand, something vaguely humanoid, not the blank stare of an animal.

 _Move on. Let go. Be free._

I run through as many synonyms for this as I can. The bird is staring at me and I swear, I can actually see it judging me.

 _Shut up. I'm new at this._

The raven lets out a mocking call, it sounds like a laugh.

 _Stop laughing at me. I've never done this before._

How did I call this one? How did this one wake up? I didn't even see the body, or touch it. What's the connection here? What's to stop every single dead thing in the whole town from waking up? What if I can't send it back? Air isn't coming into my lungs as easily. It feels like the girl is sitting on my chest again, staring at me with those cold eyes.

Kaylen squeezes my shoulder and I jolt, remembering that there are other people in the room.

"When I can't see the future, it frustrates me and that makes it worse." She says quietly, eyes fixed on the bird.

"Breathing helps and so does recognizing that what you're doing is scary. It is scary. It's terrifying. None of us know what we are doing. But we have to try because if we don't master our powers, they will take over." Her voice helps. It's calm and steady and relaxing. Definitely better than staring at the raven.

"And I personally have seen enough dead things for one night so if you can try not to raise some more dead animals, I'd appreciate it." Connor has sunk down into the armchair and is staring at the raven with horror. He looks up and manages a slight smile.

He reminds me so much of Xav in that moment, the way that he cracks a joke in awkward situations in the attempt to make them better. It's enough to make Kaylen smile and then hit him on the shoulder.

"Ouch!"

"You deserved it, that wasn't even funny Con." She snaps and looks back at the raven.

"Try to focus on it, not the body but the mind and soul inside of the raven." She suggests, making a face as it turns to reveal the gruesome injury that ended its life.

"This is starting to sound super spiritual." Connor comments, "If we are going to start chanting and wearing robes let me know. I'll look damn fabulous in a robe." I burst out laughing. In can't help it, all the stress I think has finally hit me. Also the image of Connor with his bright red hair, in a dark robe, chanting with a candle is just too much.

"At least someone finally appreciates my sense of humor." Looking back at Connor, I see him grinning at me. "I like this one. Can we keep her?"

"So you've decided that she's not crazy?" Connor tilts his head and frowns at me. "Nah I think she's insane but the most fun people are."

I shake my head, " Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"No problem, Morrigan." He reclines in his chair, lazily.

"Morrigan? That isn't my name."

"Nah, it's Irish mythology. The Morrigan. They are primarily associated with fate, especially predicting death or doom. The translation is like the Phantom Queen or something. I thought it suited you."

The Phantom Queen? I don't feel like much of a queen right now. I turn back to the raven that is still just staring at me. I shut my eyes and try to feel the spirit. Nothing. I'm about to turn to Kaylen and complain when something hits me. It's like when you walk outside on a windy day and a gust just hits you.

I'm about to ask Kaylen if she felt that but when I turn to look at her, she's not there. Instead of standing in the warm living room, it's doused in shadows. Shifting shadows that push and shove against this barrier of light around me. They can't get through though but they are trying. Just one shadow is inside the light. It sticks to the thin barrier, as if it would like nothing better then to push it's way out but it needs permission.

 _Let it go._

A shadow is pressed up against the light, one hand pressed right up against it.

 _Give it permission to leave._

 _How?_ I tremble, looking at the thin barrier. It's already starting to crack.

 _Let it go._

And I try. I picture the shadow leaving the light and rejoining the others. I picture it so many times that it plays out like a movie in my head constantly.

 _Now order it. Make it do what you want_

I point my finger, trying to ignore the shaking, at the shadow. "Leave!" I hiss. And surprisingly, it does. The wall opens up a crack and for one second, I hear a terrible wailing and screaming sound. The shadow slides through the gap before anything else can slip through the gap and the wall seals up again.

 _Now go. Go before they break through_

I pause, glancing back at the thin wall, with the one shadow pressed against it.

"What's your name?"

 _Lizzie. Go before they break through._

I snap my eyes open. "Hey, you Ok?" Kaylen looks at me nervously, searching my face for the answer.

"I'm fine, Why?" I look past her to see that instead of the raven, there is simply a huddled mass of black feathers on the floor.

"Well, you went into this trance thing and it was like watching you and then it just dropped." Connor walks around the corner holding a black garbage bag.

"Oh good, I thought we were going to have to dump a bucket of water on you." He says cheerily. Too cheerily for the circumstances. Generally people have a different reaction to a girl who can raise the dead. At least I would hope that they would.

" We are going to need some help." Kaylen groans, throwing a hand over her eyes. Connor bends down by the bird before looking back at me. "You might not want to watch." he cautions.

Feeling sick, I turn away. "We'll need help for sure." Finished with his job, Connor stands up and looks back at us. All humor is gone. He no longer looks like a carefree teenager but much older. Like someone who has been on the run and has had a death penalty on his head since turning 10.

"But not tonight," he says, and reached his hand out to briefly touch mine. "Let her sleep. We'll deal with it tomorrow." Relief floods through me. I don't have to do anything for tonight.

"Besides, you can go one day without raising a zombie army right?"


End file.
